Massachusetts Man Donates 1974 Corvette He’s Owned Since New to the Corvette Museum

Paul Marseglia recently said goodbye to an old friend, the 1974 Corvette Stingray that he’s owned since it was new.

The Franklin, Mass., man donated his brown Corvette to the National Corvette Museum because he knew it would be treated with the same respect and love that he had shown it during the past 40 years.

“I’m a founding member of the Museum so I know that people donate their Corvettes. I figured that was the best thing to do… to take it somewhere for other people to enjoy, and for other people to take care of. I don’t want to sell it locally and see it getting beat up or neglected by somebody. I wanted it to go to someone who would take care of it. I get emotional when it comes to my cars.”

No wonder. Paul has been a car enthusiast his whole life. In fact, years ago, a friend bought a used 1959 Corvette, and the two used to go cruising in it frequently when they were young men. “Gas was cheap back then, so we went riding in it all the time,” he said. “I had to have one after that.”

Thought he knew his way around tools and garages, Paul soon found himself thinking it might be nicer to have a brand new Corvette instead. Fortunately, his brother also liked Corvettes at the same time, so they ended up buying 1974 models together.

Paul grew to love his Corvette more and more through the years, taking painstaking care of it, including keeping the leather seats treated to keep them looking like new. He also kept a logbook of the work he did to the car and tried to keep it as original as possible.

He says he always liked each generation of Corvette after his ’74, but he says he loves everything about the car and never considered buying a newer model.

“Every generation of Corvette that has come out I’ve liked,” he explains, “but not enough to trade in my 1974 or buy a new one and hold on to the old one.”

Now he can rest easy knowing that his beloved Corvette is safe and sound with the Corvette Museum.

Mitch Talley has loved Corvettes since he was just 8 years old. He's owned 10 Corvettes since 1983, including examples from the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth generations. His goal is to own first, second, and seventh generation cars someday. He and his son, Chris, also a Corvette enthusiast, served as Captains of the 2014 Georgia Corvette Caravan.